Pages

Friday, 20 March 2015

JIM THOMPSON - IRONSIDE (1967)

Synopsis/blurb…..

World-renowned
criminologist

Special consultant to
the San Francisco Police Department

Confined to a
wheelchair, paralyzed by a would-be-assassin’s bullet

IRONSIDE:

The brilliant
detective with a genius for flushing out evil faces his greatest challenge: a
faceless murderer stalking San Francisco – a different kind of killer who slays
not out of revenge or greed but out of love – a fanatic with a sacred mission
to kill.

A SENSATIONAL NOVEL

A HIT NBC-TV SERIES

STARRING RAYMOND BURR
AS IRONSIDE

Well a 1967 book and a bit of a nostalgia trip for me. My
dad, long since departed bless him, wasn’t a massive fan of US television,
television full-stop really, but one exception to the rule would have been Ironside. In 1967 I would have been 4
years-old and can dimly recall us watching this as a family. False memory?
Perhaps, but one I’m happily clinging on to. In truth the series ran well into
the early-70s so I might well have been 8 or 9 when we watched in black and
white!

Anyway – fond memories of my dad refreshed, a Jim Thompson book to boot and after a
couple of ropey months being underwhelmed by Sax Rohmer and Chester Himes
an enjoyable contribution to Rich
Westwood’s Past Offences monthly meme. This month being 1967.

Onto the book then…..much better than the last Thompson book
I read The Rip-Off, back in October,2013.

We have a murderer roaming San Francisco, prowling the bars,
but disguising his methods and soon after we have Mark Sanger, Ironside’s black
assistant in jail, held on a potential murder charge after an altercation with
a man who was racially abusing him. Ironside’s focus is on finding out who
killed Sanger’s attacker, after Sanger himself had been knocked unconscious.

As our mystery unfolds, we are introduced to a variety of
characters and some tangentially related incidents, which whilst appearing to
be separate strands in the book, by the conclusion are all woven together.

Ironside gets to showcase his incorruptibility and
resistance to outside pressures, as well as, in Sanger’s absence struggling to
assert some level of independence and mobility in the face of his physical
infirmity. Bravery or stupidity? Certainly stubbornness.

I really enjoyed this one, particularly when Thompson plants
you inside Ironside’s head. Is he a decent man, for not acting on his implied
feelings towards his attractive assistant, Eve or is he an old lech for having
those feelings in the first place? Was it commonplace in a 60’s work
environment for an authority figure to want to admonish a female by the
application of a smack on the backside, or is there a darker side to our main
character’s psyche? I get the feeling Thompson had a bit of fun pushing the boundaries
as far as he could with this.

I’m not usually a massive fan of novelisations of films or
TV shows, but this I really liked.

4 from 5

Click the year to see what other folks have been enjoying
for Rich’s 1967 meme.

Moira at Clothes in Books blog – enjoyed this
one a few months ago. Her thoughts are here.

I bought a secondhand copy of this a few years ago, from I
can’t remember where.

As a final thought – did people have better eye-sight in the
60’s?

With 42 lines of text to a page, I was restricted to reading
this during daylight hours at the weekends!

17 comments:

Oh, Col, I remember Ironside, 'though like you, I was a child when it aired. I have to admit I didn't know it had been adapted for a novel. Interesting! I'm glad you enjoyed this. I don't generally read a lot of that sort of adaptation, but there are a few good 'uns out there.

Yes! I've been waiting for you to do this one, glad you enjoyed it. I thought it was fabulously weird and very much of its time. Well you deserved a treat after unlucky choices in previous months.Thanks for the shoutput.

It's odd to think of Jim Thompson doing a novelization, isn't it? I must try to see if I can find a copy of this one, since I can well remember watching the Ironside series . . . hell, when I was a child it was Perry Mason we watched!

I know what you mean about the print size in some of those old UK paperbacks. For years I had one of Colin Dexter's Morse novels on my shelves in an old NEL or Sphere edition, and eventually I just gave it away unread: the only way I was ever going to be able to read it myself was with a magnifying glass.

I wonder if he was hurting for money? Fairly sure I read he died broke and out of print in 1977.Can't say I've ever seen or read anything on the Gardner/Mason front. I should try and correct that. Wasn't Raymond Burr also Perry Mason?

I think I have a couple of older books with even smaller print unfortunately!

Yes, that was the reason for the reference. When Ironside started up on t'telly we were all, you know, like, "What's Perry Mason doing in a wheelchair?"

With your preference for quick reads, you should try a few of the Gardners. They're pretty short and extremely readable; they're not exactly examples of glittering prose, but they do have a sort of crap charm.

I am usually wary of novelizations also... but it always depends on the writer. And of course, sometimes the characters in a novelization are compared to the TV or movie characters and just don't feel the same, whereas here you haven't just been watching the show... I assume.

Funny comment about print size. It is amazing how many older paperbacks have tiny print.

I haven't seen an old episode for years. I think I'd like to re-watch one for memories sake.I've avoided a few books in my collection because of the print and if I go to buy something and I don't like the typeface, I'll put the book back. Doesn't work if you buy online though.

We watched Ironside on TV too and loved it. Reruns still are an enjoyment to watch! Never read the books though. Aaron Burr is and always will be in my minds eye, Ironside. I must find a book to read and see if I enjoy it as much as the show.

Peggy, I'm unsure if there are other books written as series tie-ins. There may well be as it was a popular series in its day. If there are I'm sure you will track them down!Hat tip towards Torquil MacLeod - a Scottish author writing Scandi crime, a variation in setting for your Scottish challenge!

Synopsis/blurb…… Rennie Beckman is a dishonored ex-cop with only two things on his mind: his new boat, the Triggerfish, and his hot...

Search This Blog

CATCHING UP WITH MY WIFE AND SON

Harlan Coben - Just One LookHarlan Coben - Stay Close

Tess Gerritsen - Last To Die

Jess Walter - The Financial Lives Of The Poets

Zoran Drvenkar - Sorry

Julia Crouch - Cuckoo

Wiley Cash - A Land More Kind Than Home

Gavin Extence - The Universe Versus Alex Woods

Oliver Stark - American Devil

Harlan Coben - The Innocents

David Mitchell - Cloud AtlasChuck Palahnuik - Fight Club

Aldous Huxley - Brave New World

Charlie McDowell - Dear Girls Above Me

10 behind my wife............she's getting away from me! 4 behind my son! I reckon I can reel her back in during the second half of the year!Not always my cup of tea - but I like reading what my better half has read, I find it promotes some learned discourse over the dinner table!